Turkey's textile industry crushed by China and Bangladesh

It is a bitterly cold winter's day in the central Anatolian Turkish city of Tokat. The thermometer reads –3 degrees Celsius (27 degrees Fahrenheit).

Sündüz Akkan, a mother of three, bundles up and heads to the Sik Makas factory, where she worked until October.

The plant's roughly 1,700 employees stopped receiving their wages in mid-2025. On 7 October, workers went on strike. But instead of resolution, the move was met with shock: the very next day, 1,000 Sik Makas employees received text messages informing them that they had been dismissed.

Akkan and her colleagues have been protesting at the gates of their former employer ever since. In a solidarity tent set up outside the factory, they are trying to draw attention to their precarious situation.

Their persistence has paid off in part. In January, they finally received their outstanding wages. They have also secured corrections to their employment records removing the notation "Code 22" as the reason for their dismissal.

Code 22 denotes "other reasons", and workers dismissed under this classification are not entitled to unemployment benefits or severance pay. That feared designation has now been removed following sustained pressure from the protesters.

But the struggle is not over. Former employees are still fighting for their severance pay.

"I worked here for more than three years," Akkan says. "Now we are being treated like beggars, even though we are simply asking for what we are legally entitled to."

Workers denied medical treatment unless 'writhing in pain' 

Buse Kara, the group's spokesperson, was among those dismissed in October. Shortly afterwards, she was placed under investigation for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

After spending 16 days under house arrest, she is once again at the forefront of the protest.

Describing conditions inside the factory, Kara speaks of systematic workplace harassment and intense pressure to increase productivity. She says the company recently limited toilet breaks to five minutes and prayer breaks to ten.

"We weren't allowed to see a nurse unless we were unconscious or writhing in pain," she says.

Sik Makas denied these allegations in response to a request for comment from DW, stating in writing that all of its actions complied with Turkish law and labour union regulations.

Founded in 1939, Sik Makas is one of Turkey's 500 largest industrial companies. It says it exports around 20 million denim products each year, primarily to Europe.

Global brands such as H&M, Jack & Jones, Levi's, Only and Zara manufacture products at the facility. The company also produces its own in-house brand, Cross Jeans, which it sells in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries.

Despite this scale, Turkey's soaring inflation and high interest rates have put the company under significant pressure. Like many competitors, Sik Makas has shifted part of its production to Egypt, where manufacturing costs are lower.

A key Turkish industry in structural crisis 

For decades, the textile and clothing industry has been one of the pillars of the Turkish economy and a vital source of income for hundreds of thousands of families.

Official figures suggest that around 1.1 million people are employed in the sector. Trade unions, however, argue that the real number is far higher, as the statistics do not account for undocumented workers, including refugees, women and children.

Mehmet Türkmen, head of the BIRTEK-SEN union, says jobs in the industry are now almost entirely paid at the minimum wage, leaving monthly incomes below the poverty line for a family of four — around €650 (£556). Unpaid overtime and holiday shifts, he adds, are widespread.

Türkmen also criticises the growing trend of companies relocating production to rural areas to benefit from state incentives. High unemployment in these regions, he says, allows employers to suppress wages even further.

How Turkey lost its EU market share 

While companies point to rising raw material and production costs, the figures illustrate the depth of the crisis. Over the past three years, 380,000 jobs have been lost, and 4,500 companies shut down in 2025 alone.

The most alarming developments are unfolding in the industry's most important market: the European Union.

Turkish exports to the EU have fallen sharply, while imports from China and Bangladesh have surged.

According to the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB), EU imports of Chinese textile goods rose by 21.8 per cent between January and May 2025, while imports from Bangladesh increased by 17.9 per cent. Over the same period, imports from Turkey — the EU's third-largest supplier after China and Bangladesh — declined by 5.1 per cent.

Of the EU's ten largest clothing suppliers, only Turkey and Tunisia lost market share. With more than 60 per cent of Turkey's clothing production destined for the EU single market, such losses are seen as existential.

In 2025, Turkey's share of the EU clothing and textile market fell below five per cent for the first time in 30 years. It was also the first time in 35 years that Turkey's global market share dropped below three per cent.

'We have hit bottom' 

Şeref Fayat, head of apparel and ready-wear assembly at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), paints a bleak picture. He sees little prospect of recovery as long as the government continues to intervene in currency markets to artificially support the lira.

President Erdoğan has promised to increase state subsidies in the sector to 3,500 lira per worker (around €69), alongside measures to freeze layoffs and encourage hiring. Employers, however, argue that these steps fall far short of what is needed.

Mustafa Paşahan, vice-president of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association (İHKİB), offers a stark warning: "We have hit bottom. Our strength has run out."

Jak Eskinazi, chair of İTHİB, is even more blunt, criticising the government's current political and economic direction as destructive to the industry.

"We no longer expect anything from them. We are just trying to save ourselves," he says.

This article was originally published in German.

Elmas Topcu reports on Turkey, German–Turkish relations, and political and religious groups linked to Turkey.

Disclaimer: This article first appeared on DW and is published by special syndication arrangement.